In 1947, banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sent to Shawshank Prison with a double life sentence for murders he did not commit. There, he befriends Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), another prisoner who smuggles contraband. Andy asks him to deliver a hammer and a Rita Hayworth poster to him. The film describes the subsequent years at Shawshank, during which the friendship between the men deepens.
Base “The Shawshank Redemption” was Stephen King’s 1982 short story “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” In 1983, the writer was contacted by Frank Darabont, then a 24-year-old aspiring filmmaker who wanted to adapt his short story “The Woman in the Hall.” In keeping with his habit of supporting young directors, King sold him the rights for a symbolic dollar. The short film made a big impression on him. When Darabont asked in 1987 to sell the rights to “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” King asked for a check for five thousand dollars. However, he never intended to cash it. If it didn’t work out, he intended to send it back to Darabont.
The screenwriter focused on writing the adaptation only five years later. The first draft of the plot was written in eight weeks. The text made a huge impression on Rob Reiner. The director had previously made two adaptations of King’s novels: “Stand by Me” and “Misery”, which brought an Oscar to the leading role of Kathy Bates. Now he wanted to make “The Shawshank Redemption”. He saw Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise in the leading roles.’a. He offered as much as $2.5 million for Darabont’s script. However, he was turned down. Darabont felt he could make a great film. Reiner supported him throughout the production process.
In the literary original, Red is an Irishman whose red hair is gradually turning gray. Paul Newman, Gene’a Hackman, Robert Redford and Robert Duvall. Darabont, however, had always seen Morgan Freeman in the role because of his deep voice and bearing. The actor later admitted that it was his favorite role of his career.
Finding an actor to play Andy’The ego took a little longer because all the major candidates declined due to other commitments. Tom Hanks was doing “Forrest Gump” and Kevin Costner was doing “Waterworld.” Finally, Tim Robbins was suggested. Darabont recognized him from the horror film “Jacob’s Ladder” and was happy to have him on board.
James Gandolfini and Brad Pitt were considered for the other roles, with the former being offered the role of Bogs, who torments Andy’ego at the beginning of his sentence. The actor, however, did not want to accept it. Pitt, on the other hand, was given the role of a young prisoner named Tommy’ego, but he dropped out because of the popularity he gained from his performance in “Thelma and Louise.” Clancy Brown played the role of the chief guard, Byron Hadley. The actor was offered meetings with former prison employees as part of his preparation. He declined. He believed Byron was a negative character and did not want anyone to think he represented the real prison guards.
The film was shot between June and August 1993 on a $25 million budget. Darabont shot six days a week, sometimes 18 hours a day. The director wanted every shot to be perfect, which led to many arguments with the cast. The scene where Andy asks Red to find a hammer took nine hours to shoot. Freeman threw a baseball in every take. He never once asked to be cut. He showed up on set the next day with his arm in a sling. He often refused to do reshoots after that.
One of the most difficult sequences was Andy’s escape’ego from prison. In the scene where the hero squeezes through a sewage pipe, Robbins glided through a mixture of water, chocolate syrup and sawdust. The most problematic was his bath in the water tank. The hero was supposed to crawl out of the pipe and dive deep into the water. However, at the request of the creators, specialists tested the water and partially purified it so that the scene could be safely shot. “When you’re making a movie, you want to be a good soldier, not the one who ruins everything. So as an actor, you do things that are not the best for your health and safety,” Robbins summed up.
The test screenings had the filmmakers very optimistic. They believed they had a huge hit on their hands. On September 10, 1994, The Shawshank Redemption debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Two weeks later, the film went into limited release in the United States. Darabont and producer Liz Glotzer decided to go to one of the screenings to see the audience’s reaction live. To their surprise and disappointment, they were the only people in the theater. The film went into wide release on October 14. It ran for ten weeks. It grossed only $16 million—not even making back its budget. The Shawshank Redemption was a financial flop. At least at first.
Success and popularity came later. In 1995, The Shawshank Redemption became the most popular movie on video. When the Oscar nominations were announced, Darabont’s film received seven nominations—including production of the year, Freeman’s performance, and adapted screenplay. It was re-released in theaters, which brought in an additional $12 million. The film was later frequently shown on television. It is no wonder that it has been a high-ranking Internet movie chart for years. A dozen or so years ago, its average rating surpassed The Godfather on the Internet Movie Database, and it has been at the top of that list of the best movies of all time ever.
A few years after its release, when the film was already a favorite, Darabont received a framed check for $5,000 from King—the same check he had used to pay for the rights to The Shawshank Redemption in 1987. Enclosed with the package was a short note: “In case you need bail money. Love, Steve.”
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